Billy Donovan says no way to NBA raising age limit

March 15, 2014|Mike Bianchi, SPORTS COMMENTARY

Billy Donovan has a four-word message for new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver:

Thanks, but no thanks.

That was the directive from the Florida Gators' basketball coach when I asked him recently if he's in favor of Silver's desire to raise the league's age limit to 20 years old and keep prospective NBA players in college a year longer.

"It is my belief that if players have an opportunity to mature as players and as people, for a longer amount of time, before they come into the league, it will lead to a better league," Silver said during NBA All-Star Weekend. "… That's something as I travel the league I increasingly hear from our coaches, who feel that many of even the top players in the league could use more time to develop even as leaders as part of college programs."

Translation: NBA teams want college basketball programs to do the job of developing and marketing stars for them — for free. Clearly, the league is tired of getting players like Cleveland's Anthony Bennett, last year's No. 1 draft pick, who clearly aren't ready for the NBA after only one season in college.

So Silver proposes forcing players to stay in college an extra year, meaning NCAA basketball would be be filled with even more prospective NBA wannabes, who would be forced to go from one-and-done in college to two-and-through. Donovan's stance is he doesn't want the extra year of headaches and distractions that come from players who have no desire to be in college.

"College basketball coaches and programs are taking on all the risks," Donovan says. "The kid doesn't want to be in college and wants to be in the NBA, but because of the rules, he has to stay in college. Now you're opening yourself up for potential NCAA violations. … You've got players like Jabari Parker [Duke] or Julius Randle [Kentucky], and there is so much coming at these kids. If a kid takes something he's not supposed to take or he is enticed into something, it's the colleges that are put in harm's way."

Donovan points to his own potential one-and-done player as a cautionary example. Chris Walker, UF's McDonald's All-America freshman center, would have likely gone straight to the NBA if given the chance out of high school, but he signed with the Gators instead. After a plethora of academic and NCAA issues, Walker was suspended for much of this season after he, friends and family members were given gifts, airfare, lodging, meals, apparel and other perks from third-party influences, including two sports agents.

Although the Gators weren't penalized for any of Walker's high school transgressions, what would have happened if the violations had occurred while he was playing for UF this season? The No. 1-ranked Gators, who won the SEC regular-season title with a perfect 18-0 regular season, would have likely had to forfeit all games in which Walker had played. Just think of the chaos and controversy such a penalty would have created.

"It's colleges that have to handle situations like this and what comes with it," Donovan says of the inducements being offered to big-time NBA prospects. "And what comes with it is a lot of enticement, a lot of agent involvement, a lot of people hovering around and a lot of people trying to get their hooks into the kid. And then if the kid makes a mistake or doesn't do the right thing, all of the sudden it falls on the institution. That's not right when the kid should have never been in college in the first place and should already have been in the NBA."

In other words, Donovan doesn't want to raise the NBA age limit, he wants to do away with it altogether. He wants it to go back to the way it used to be when players could go straight from high school to the NBA. Donovan, whose No. 1-ranked team is led by four senior starters, says NCAA basketball will be much better off with those players who "choose" to be in college.

Thanks, Commissioner Silver.

But no thanks.

mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740-AM.